Dovahkiin Rises
by Ignuzz
Summary: A journey that will take you to explore Skyrim, through the adventures and misfortunes of its protagonists, (most are invented characters in my own interpretation of the quests of the game)
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fan fiction, please enjoy. Right now it does not contain any character from the game; but some will appear, like Alduin and Ulfric; I even think that Serana and Harkon may also appear.

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><p>As the night draws near and the road became harder to follow; a young Nord that was hardly older than twenty, en route to his motherland of Skyrim; (he had also thought that a straight path from Bruma to Whiterun; although dangerous, would be faster and even more interesting); decided that it was time to set a camp for the night.<p>

He was no stranger to camping; he had done it hundreds of times, but it was the first time he did it alone, and committed a mistake; not in the camp of course, but he failed to examine his surroundings.

When suddenly and out of nowhere a group of thugs push him to the ground and took his sword. While on the ground, he tried to lift himself to no avail, as one of them was keeping him to the ground. Under normal circumstances he could have beaten them, but the ambush had taken him off guard.

The young Nord was reckless, but not stupid; he knew that without his sword he was no match for the four heavily armed men. He decided to wait and see how things unfold.

"This is a really fine sword" one of them said "what else do you have?"

"Let's just kill him and take all" another said.

"I'll do it" said the one standing the farthest.

"Is this it?" The Nord thought to himself "well, if either way I am going to die, at least I can do it while fighting."

As the man was about to unsheath his weapon, the young Nord manage to push away the one on his back, and punch in the face the one nearest to him, retrieving his sword and knocking out the guy in the process.

To such offence the other two tried to retaliate, but something was wrong.

"Where is my weapon?" Both men thought while instinctively they turn to see their waist.

The young Nord, with his good fighting instinct, did not last long to notice their distraction, and use it to his advantage.

"Three down, one remains", the Nord said while turning back to the last one, (which actually fainted out of fear). "seriously?!"

As he sheathed his weapon, he noticed that the four of them lack their weapons.

"but, they had them! I saw it! where...?"

In the middle of that, he could hear a familiar sound on his back; as the weapons expert he is (or at least he thinks he is), he recognised the sound; that is the sound of a wooden bow preparing a shoot.

"There was another?" The young Nord thought to himself while preparing for the worst "well at least I died in honorable combat."

But the sound was followed by a loud impact, and the arrow being shot, (and luckily it missed). Then an unnatural silence that was interrupted only by a steady set of steps coming in his way, dragging something.

"Is that a wolf? Unlikely; maybe a sabre cat, no, I am not yet in Skyrim; maybe a troll, no, one can easily carry a man but would make a lot more noise, what...wait, there is a shadow, what is it?"

The shadow at the distance was barely human, and with two straight and long horns. As the figure gets closer, it makes a hand gesture and a bright light came out of it. The young man has never seen one in person, but the reptilian appearance left little to guess. That was an Argonian, way taller than what he heard; even taller than him (but not for much), but very slim and with a robe that he indeed has seen. That is the official robe from the college of Winterhold.

"An Argonian mage? I have never heard they could use magic, let alone become a full fledged mage."

With the light of the spell he could now see him clearly, or at least he tried; as the Argonian had really dark green and red scales, and the blue feathers adorning the back of his head were even darker; making him to look like a shadow even under the light; the only easy to distinguish feature that made him stand out was his dark orange throat.

Now that he was close enough, what he was dragging was easily distinguishable; it was the fifth men and a bag full of weapons.

"My name is Shaakus" said the argonian "Are you injured? I am no master of the school of restoration, but I can cast some spells to mend your wounds and easing your pain."

"N-no, those milk-drinkers would never have been a threat, I could have easily beat them if not for that damned ambush" replied the young Nord.

"Yes, I noticed, but you did get ambushed" answered in an almost condescending manner, "like many more travelers and merchants".

"Oh, sorry, I did not see you beating four men without your weapon, did you, Shadow?"

"That is the point; you did not see me taking their weapon, nor did they" replied Shadow; "and thanks to that, you defeated them without a mishap, did you not?"

That last comment, although true, had touched a nerve in the Nord; who would have answered if not for what Shadow said next.

"Well, at least you are okay, and I have captured this guys I was tasked to deal with."

"So... are you a head hunter, Shadow?" Ask the Nord.

"No, I am a tracker, so to speak" Shadow replied; "and my name is not Shadow, although everybody calls me that, so its okay. Still, I don't know why?"

"You really don't know?" Asked the Nord in a sarcastic and incredulous tone.

They took the five men to the nearest guard outpost and continued their conversation. As it turned out, both of them were heading to Skyrim, so they decided to go together, after all, the journey would be more bearable with someone to talk to, (not to mention safer with a capable fighter).

"By the way" add Shadow "what is your name?"


	2. Chapter 2

After the night had engulfed the sky, and the road became impossible to follow; the two men decided to set their camp. The young Nord, not being able to hold his curiosity any longer decided to ask.

"You know? I have been wondering; how in oblivion did you took their weapons without anyone noticing? And how did you knew where was the fifth hiding?"

"Oh...well, it's really easy, and both skills complement each other" answered Shadow "First, and as you can see; I am pretty hard to detect."

"Or even being seen" thought the Nord "it's like there was a ghost in front of me. I think Shadow is a name that suits you perfectly."

"Secondly, I am well trained in the magic arts, especially the schools of conjuration and illusion" continued Shadow "but not limited to them. Making my presence unnoticeable to everyone, until I so decide. That is a pretty handy combo for my line of work."

"That is kind of creepy", said the Nord "and you haven't answered the other question?"

"That is a little harder to answer" said Shadow with a longing face "it takes me back to my teacher and foster-father; An old Imperial, that had gone to Skyrim to learn about the Thu'um with the Greybeards; until he was banished for using it in a way that was not allowed. After that they decided to only teach it to the true Nords of Skyrim"

"Wait, he was trained in the way of the voice?" Ask the Nord "but... what does a form of communication with the nine divines has anything to do with what you did?"

"That's a common misconception. You see, the Thu'um is the ancient language of the mighty dragons; strong words that carry great power. But the Greybeards decided it was to be only used to communicate with the divines. They said that in the wrong hands it could be used to harm or even kill someone."

"Okay, but that doesn't explain what you did to find him."

"Well... as I said, that Imperial was my teacher. He trained me on the way of the voice, but my training is incomplete; I only know a handful of words. The one that I used was LAAS which means."

"Life."

"Yes, indeed, but...How do you know?"

"I do not, I just... understood it"

"Well, but is not enough to just understand its meaning. For it to work, you have to call for your life force, your soul if you will; and make it shout. The amount of power you have, determines the strength of your Thu'um. For an example, LAAS makes my soul resonate with my surroundings; revealing everything that has a life force, no matter how small or weak."

"It sounds really interesting. I wish to try"

"Well, you can. But is really hard, and not everyone can do it. But suit yourself"

"Come on then, what's the harm?"

"In this one, none. All right, try it, I have already told you everything my master ever told me."

"Okay... here goes nothing."

He took a really deep breath, and as he pronounced the word; he tried to remember all that shadow told him, with really bad results. He did listen to everything, but is not a Nord custom to use that much the brain. So he just shouted to the best he can.

"LAAS."

As soon as he ended the word his sight went black. After a few seconds it returned, but something was different. Now he was able to see the aura of everything it surrounded him. After his amusement passed, he turned to see Shadow; who had his eyes wide open. It was the first time he really noticed but the Argonian had a strange color of eye (not that he knew other Argonians to compare); a shiny, (although dark) violet.

"What's the matter?" Asked the Nord

"As someone trained in the use of the thu'um, I actually noticed" replied Shadow "you use the thu'um. Not just that, it was a flawless demonstration; you must have some real talent"

After a good night of sleep, the two decided to keep on their journey. But it did not take long for them to start talking again.

"I mean, being able to cast some spells is good and all, but I prefer something I can bash someone or throw at something" Said the young Nord.

"Yes" replied Shadow "but what if someone takes your sword?"

"Well..." he did not how to answer that, since last night he almost died that way.

"And its not like I dont know how to handle a weapon" said Shadow with what seemed to be a smile on his face, (if the Argonians were capable of actually smile, that is).

"And then why..."

"I don´t carry a sword or anything" Shadow interrupted.

"Yes."

"I told you. My specialties are the schools of illusion and conjuration."

"So?"

As he was asking, Shadow extended his hands; (with a little annoyance in his face). A blue energy started to emanate from both of his hands, and out of thin air; a glowing blue sword and a dagger appeared.

"Now that's impressive!" Said the Nord "but, how good are you with them?"

As the young Nord unsheathed his sword, Shadow let out a big sigh.

"You really want to fight me? Do you think it's a wise decision?"

"It is not about being wise. It is about the fight. It's no secret that we Nords have combat engraved in our souls. I also think that you get to really know a person after you exchange some blows with him in fight."

"Well if it means that much to you, I suppose I cannot refuse"

"Then, what are we waiting for? Bring it!"

The sparring session went for longer than any of whatever they would had intended. At one side, the young Nord had the strength advantage (if he could actually land a strike); his fighting instinct allowed him to counter any attempt of the Argonian , and his warrior pride would not let him admit defeat; Shadow, on the other hand, was very thin and limber for his height, and seemed to have a tremendous amount of speed and stamina to an unbelievable extent, which let him evade any of his opponents attacks; but what shadow had in speed he lacked it in brute force; he was no weakling, but to a Nord capable of blocking his blows they mean close to nothing.

By the sunset, both were to their limit. The Nord lacked the Argonians stamina; but to maintain tangible his weapons, the Argonian needed a lot of concentration, which was taking its toll. It was a matter of which failed first. Shadow's endurance or the Nord's spirit.

By nightfall, both were on the ground unable to move, trying to catch their breath. As soon as both were able to sit, they stare at each other and started to laugh really loud.

"That was a really good sparring, even for a mage."

"A mage?" Asked Shadow "hardly, I know magic because my father was a mage. No, I just think that is better to obtain a lot of skills to be prepared for any, lets just say... unexpected event."

As soon as Shadow finish that sentence; he gathered a bunch of branches and tree bark, and with a hand gesture; he summoned a flaming being that lit the firewood.

"Well, that is helpful" said the Lord "it seems that knowing magic has its perks."

By daybreak, and with the sun rising in the horizon; both companions started their journey anew, with the promise that they will not start another fight till Whiterun. As they started the descent from the mountains into Falkreath, (and after slaying some beast on the mountain) they started yet another conversation.

"This is not the satisfying, adventure packed, beast slaying trip that I expected" ranted the Nord "Tell me something Shadow, why go to Skyrim? its a really long journey from Black Marsh."

"Yes, it is" answered Shadow "but I only lived in the Marsh until my naming day, and I was almost a hatchling back then. It's not that I am that older now, I will be 24 in almost 23 days. Ironic, is it not?"

"Really? Well, not to brag, but tomorrow is my birthday."

"Tomorrow is... the seventeenth of Last Seed."

"Correct."

"I think by tomorrow we will be arriving to Whiterun, so I guess the meal is on me."

"It's a deal."

After a long journey, and few eventualities, (to which the thrill-seeking Nord made sure to complain); the two travelers were finally half a day of their destination. They decided to continue even in the night, so they get to an inn soon; camping was fun and all but it was time for a decent bed.

"Now that I remember, you never finish to tell me why did you came to Skyrim" said the Nord.

"Your curiosity knows no bounds, do you?" Said Shadow "okay, Its not like its a secret. The reason is that I actually grew up in Solitude, its a great place to live, despite the weather; way better than Windhelm. Can you imagine that they don't let Saxhleel to live inside the city walls?"

"Sax what?"

"Argonians."

"And then, what were you doing in Cyrodiil?"

"Does he never stops asking questions?" Thought Shadow, then he answered in resignation "I was looking for an old relique of my guild, a legendary artifact."

"And did you found it?"

"Are you serious?" Thought Shadow in annoyance "I would not dare to return without it."

Shadow suddenly stops, as he saw in horror the scene in front of him. A lot of soldiers had been murdered without mercy. Both get closer to see if there was any survivors.

"This are Imperial soldiers" said the Nord.

"Hey! Come quickly."

"What did you find?"

"Take a look at this sword" said shadow as he showed him a sword covered in blood "this is not the crest of the Empire"

"No, I think this is the."

As he was about to finish a loud shout was heard.

"Halt!"

As this word echoed across the valley, it paralyzed the two travelers. By the time they were able to move again they were being pushed to the ground and handcuffed.

"Wait! This is a misunderstanding" yelled Shadow.

"yeah, right!" Said one of the men as he struck Shadow unconscious.

"Both of you are going to Helgen, Stormcloak scum!" Said another while knocking down the Nord.


End file.
